How Shall I Pardon Thee? -Jeremiah 5

Jeremiah 5:1 "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it."

This reminds us of Sodom and Abraham's plea that God spare it and they went through the numbers and could not find sufficient righteous to justify God sparing the city. In this chapter, God says to search for just one and he will stop his judgment.

v2 "O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; the have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return."

Often this is the difference in a child, as well, when they are corrected. Some will accept that they have done wrong and endeavor to do right while others will harden their heart against correction and persist to do wrong.

In verse 5, he goest to the the great men of the city seeking someone who will do right but even there he finds none.

Remember the armies are coming and the spies are already around.

v7 "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods; when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses."

In this question, we touch on the many characters of God which I am not knowledgeable enough to explain. I do understand that God will not go against his character. God hates sin and sin must be judged. He is also love and that love is everlasting. So in this chapter he seeks just one person that will justify him stopping judgment on the land.

It also goes to the question that people often ask: "How can God let this happen?" It is not that God wants things to happen. It is that people bring the penalty of sin upon themselves for sin must be judged.

v9 "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

The answer to the why is found in the following verse.

v19 "And it shall come to pass when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours."

The punishment reflects the transgression.

He goes on to say that they have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear. verse 21. They have a revolting and rebellious heart. verse 23.

In verse 25 we can see the love of God and the consequence of sin: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you."

The bad part is that the leaders are teaching the people falsely and the people like it.

v31 "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

The captivity is coming and some will learn not to like falsehood.